Lactate Meters and Labor Day Weekend

You can tell that folks are gearing up for the last week of summer, as marked – in the US, at least – by the "back-to-school" season. Things have been pretty quiet this week, save the steady drumbeat of marketing emails about Labor Day sales from every company from which you've ever purchased anything online (and if they've got your personal data, offline as well).

I don't have anything special planned for the long weekend – every day's a holiday when you're self-employed, and no day really ever is. Paid subscribers will receive "The Extra Mile" as usual on Monday, where I'll probably write about AI in education, behaviorism and dogs, Ilona Maher on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the Paralympics, finally out-lifting Adele, and more.

Today's email is just the usual round-up of the health technology news and press releases. Again, you know it's been a pretty light week for that when one of the few to cross the wire was that "Foot Insoles Market Poised for Significant Growth." Therabody, which is best known for its handheld massaging tool, did announce it's launching the "Theraface Depuffing Wand," which will use hot and cold treatments to "improve skin firmness and elasticity." A good reminder that the category of "health" is hardly an objective descriptor and "health technology" can be hard to separate from "beauty products."

Speaking of the weird ways sports and health and culture intersect, NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce have signed a $100 million deal with Amazon for ad-sales and distribution rights to their popular podcast.

Although he didn't win an Olympic Gold in the 1500m – he didn't even medal – Jakob Ingebritsen absolutely smashed the 3000m world record on Sunday, taking 3 seconds off the previous time that was set back in 1996. Granted, it's not a distance that's run very often, but still, it's a huge huge huge accomplishment. I usually save my thoughts on sports for Monday's newsletter, but Ingebritsen's rigorous training regimen – the "Norwegian Method" – is deeply reliant upon data tracking and fitness technology (not just the ol' fitness watch, but a lactate meter that measures blood lactate levels after every workout). Although I wouldn't think that daily blood testing would have that big a commercial appeal, we'll see if this becomes as trendy as the continuous glucose monitoring that's also being peddled to those seeking to "optimize" their fitness with science-sounding gadgetry.

In other news about things that didn't quite live up to the hype at the Summer Games, "The Paris Olympics Promised Flying Taxis—Here’s Why They Failed to Launch," Wired tries to explain. You don't need to click: they failed because it's a dumb idea that only super-rich – the tech bros who loathe mass transit and anything that enhances public infrastructure – find appealing.

Elsewhere with silly tech predictions: "Tech that measures our brainwaves is 100 years old. How will we be using it 100 years from now?" asks MIT Technology Review, ever hopeful that measuring things with science-sounding gadgetry will remain ever relevant.

Thanks for subscribing to Second Breakfast. If you're familiar with my work on Hack Education and wondering "what does this have to do with education technology?!" – ha.